Reported Speech (Direct and Indirect Speech)

Reported Speech (Direct and Indirect Speech)

We may report the words of a speaker in two ways:

a. We may quote his actual words. This is called Direct Speech.

b. We may report what he said without quoting his exact words. This is called Reported or Indirect Speech.

Example:

John said, “I am very busy now.” (Direct)
John said that he was very busy then. (Indirect/Reported)

It will be noticed that in Direct Speech, we use inverted commas to signify the exact words of the speaker. In Indirect Speech we do not.

Also, in changing the above Direct Speech into Indirect certain changes have been made. Thus:

• We have used the conjunction that before the Indirect statement. (The that is often omitted especially in spoken English.)
• The Pronoun I is changed to he. (The Pronoun is changed in Person)
• The Verb am is changed to was. (Present Tense is changed to Past.)
• The Adverb now is changed to then.

Therefore, it is clear that there are changes that happen when Direct Speech is changed to Indirect Speech.

Basic Verb Shifts for Indirect Speech (statements):

Original Verb	Reported Form
Present simple He said, “I dance all the time.”	Past Simple He said (that) he danced all the time.
Present Progressive He said, “I am studying now.”	Past Progressive He said (that) he was studying then.
Past Simple       He said, “I studied yesterday.”	Past  perfect He said that he had studied the previous day.
Past Perfect He said, “I had studied earlier.”	Past Perfect He said that he had studied earlier.
Present Perfect He said, “I have studied the topic.”	Past Perfect He said that he had studied the topic.
Will/shall He said, “I will study!”	Would He said (that) he would study!
Can He said, “I can study for the exam.”	Could He said (that) he could study for the exam.
Should He said, “I should study for the exam tonight.”	Should He said (that) he should study for the exam tonight.
Imperative He said, “Study!”	Infinitive He said to study!

However, if reporting about general truths, we do not need to shift the verb tense back.

For example,

John said, “The sky is blue.”
John said that the sky is blue.

Other common changes

You may need to adjust other words. Common changes can be:
I to he/she
this to that
here to there
yesterday to the day before
today to that day
now to then
tomorrow to the following day

Reporting questions

When reporting questions, there are certain rules to follow, as is clear from the following examples.

Original Verb	Reported Form
He asked, “What are you doing?”	He asked what I was doing.
He asked, “Why do you study in the library?”	He asked why I studied in the library.
He asked, “Have you ever been to Venice?”	He asked whether/if I had ever been to Venice (or not).

Exclamations and wishes

In reporting exclamations and wishes, the Indirect Speech is introduced by some verb expressing exclamation or wish.

Examples:

Alice said, “How clever you are!”
Alice exclaimed that I was very clever.

Worksheet

Change the following Direct Speech to Indirect Speech.

• He said, “Be quiet and listen to my words.”
• He said, “I shall go as soon as possible.”
• Jill asked, “Why do you look sad?”
• My teacher said, “I have marked your papers.”
• “Will you be at home tomorrow?” my friend asked.
• “What a pretty dress!” Ethel said.
• “Can I drop you home?” asked Harry.
• “I was sick yesterday,” Elena said.

Answers

• He urged them to be quiet and listen to his words.
• He said that he would go as soon as possible.
• Jill asked why I looked sad.
• My teacher said that she had marked our papers.
• My friend asked if I would be at home the following day.
• Ethel exclaimed that it was a pretty dress.
• Harry asked whether he could drop me home.
• Elena said that she had been sick the previous day.